Clawing to escape the belly of the beast here in Hollywood. To commiserate, email my name assistantatlas at yahoo.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Hollywood Tells Me I Am A B*tch--Again

Yes, Hollywood has again this week told me that I am a stupid, stupid child-- this time for thinking that I might get the chance to write what I want to write. But why is it such a crime to pitch what you really want to pitch?

What happened to taking a chance on a young kid with a vision? Hollywood is full of success stories of producers doing precisely that. Plus, I've got a truly original piece with lovely, hilarious and friggin' demographically-utopian characters, a good dose of action and a solid and rich, yet flexible, concept that meshes well with the coming 4G revolution while still being a good show and nobody will bite. I've even got good people in my corner and...sigh...

I know, I know. Pay dues. Work way up. Gain respect the old-fashioned way.

But that means I have to write stuff I don't want to be writing . . . for awhile. At least at this point in my career, I'm looking at maybe two full years before I can do something in that realm. The realm of writing what I want to write for life-sustaining pay. Yes, folks, that's right. I now state unequivocally-- I am not an assistant anymore. I have the staff writer title.

I'll repeat that for emphasis. After three seasons as Assistant/Atlas, I am no longer an assistant. Granted, I was an assistant long before I was Assistant/Atlas, but the job title that spawned this blog is no longer officially my own and I don't know what that means.

For the blog or for me. More for the blog, I guess, because I'm pretty much smiling about the staff writer part. You can see, perhaps, why I don't want to get fired? It means I really won't be saying anything about my job beyond what I just did, for now at least. Because really, I am grateful for the opportunity to be a staff writer. It's been a great couple of months (yes, I've had it since about the time I left Sloane) and I've learned a lot, written a lot, and gotten credit for very, very little of it.

So Sloane, if you're still reading and you still care--suck it, old man. I'm happy, I'm on the rise, and you can't derail me now. Only I can derail me now. Which is why I've gotta be careful.

As for the reason for the sudden honesty, I just felt I needed to explain why I've been kinda lame with the posts lately as far as not talking about my gig and I know that's what you kids like. Well, episode 3.49 notwithstanding, anyway.

But I'm going to keep giving you guys what I can. Mostly, though, you'll have to look hard for the subtext and hidden meanings and sometimes, the ruses I uses to keep the Nosy Suessies away.

Assistant/Atlas will continue, that I promise. I'm in this for the long haul, Ho'wood, and I'm ready to rumble.